Episode 606: Shock Wave
Shock Wave is the sixth episode of the sixth season and the eighty-sixth episode overall. Notes Clients: Barry Arthur Meyers (British spy/not at all pleased), Ayn (inmate who can get things), Bad Guys: Anson, Garret Hartley (cold-blooded sonofabitch) Synopsis Michael and the CIA get closer to discovering Anson's location, allowing them to release Fiona from prison. However, an MI6 (Directorate of Military Intelligence, Section 6, wing of British Foreign Intelligence) agent attempts to put the operation to a stop in favor of bringing Fiona into British custody. Spy Facts In any prison contraband is the rule not the exception. Candy, alcohol, even weapons are available at a steep mark-up. But there are still some things that no amount of cash, credits or cigarettes will buy you. When the CIA plans the capture of a high-value target, no expense is spared. Directional microphones, fiber-optic cameras, taser guns – all the toys come out. In any covert operation, the closer you get to your goal, the more collateral damage tends to arise. Just because you're dealing with one situation in a city hundreds of miles away, doesn't mean that another one won't show up on your door-step back home. The motion sensor in a back yard flood light works by measuring infrared heat. When a change is detected it triggers a charge in two electrical leads that turn on the lights. With a little creative re-wiring, that same spark can transform a shotgun shell into a primitive, motion-activated zip-gun. One of the hardest parts in any take-down operation is waiting for the target to show. There's nothing to do but wait and watch, knowing that even the smallest mistake can ruin everything. When you're on the run the first few hours are when you're most likely to get caught. Most fugitives are caught quickly because they're trying so hard to get away that they leave a trail a mile wide. The best plan is usually to hide well and stay out of sight. Of course, it doesn't matter how well you're hidden if they have a K-9 unit that can smell you as well as see you. In that case, your best option is usually a decoy. Give the dog something to find and hope their handlers don't look to close. When you're planning an operation to grab a target you want as much manpower on the ground as you can get. You want to make sure you've covered every approach, every escape route; because, no matter how much you plan, there are always surprises. Four thousand years ago, warriors disoriented their enemies by setting fire to bushels of straw soaked in grease and turning them into smoke bombs. Even though today's soldiers have traded burning crops for Hexachloroethane it doesn't mean those primitive methods aren't still effective. An explosion can kill you in four different ways. There's the shock wave, the shrapnel, the fire and the oxygen depletion. The best way to survive that deadly combination of factors is to run like hell. If running isn't an option, your best bet is to create a small, air-tight space from the most flame retardant material you can find. When an explosion is headed your way, it's hard to argue with an overturned, porcelain bath tub. The brisancy, or shattering force, of a natural gas explosion is nowhere near as powerful as C-4 or RDX. But just because the blast won't kill you doesn't mean you want to live through it without proper cover. As a spy, your job is to avoid detection. But there are times when you're sure to be discovered and all that's left is how and when. But that's not nothing, sometimes how and when gives your friends an awful lot of leverage. A spies life is spent preparing, learning languages, researching targets, practicing with weapons. You prepare so when the important moments arrive you're ready. But there are certain moments, human moments, that no amount of training can prepare you for. Full Recap Michael updates Fi about working with Rebecca and having a chance to track down Anson. Fi is worried that he's trusting Rebecca, who tried to have Fiona killed, but Michael insists that she trust him. Fi is brought to the warden's office, where the warden is joined by two State Department reps and Arthur Meyers, an MI6 agent who is still upset with Fi for her actions with the Irish Republican Army. He wants to bring Fi to Britain's new consulate for a three-hour interview. Fiona worries that her family and friends back home could be in jeopardy if word gets out that she's in British custody. He says that can be avoided if she signs a full confession. He gives her the night to think it over. Pearce meets with Michael in a wooded park where he tells her he knows how to find Anson the next day in Atlantic City. Pearce is suspicious, and quickly guesses Rebecca is his source for the information. She's not pleased that Michael tracked down Rebecca without telling Pearce. Michael wants to use his own people, but Pearce wants to use her own team and not include Sam. Sam doesn't take the news well. He's also worried about Michael using CIA agents, thinking Anson might have people in his employ inside the agency. Michael asks Sam to stay home and watch over Maddy. In prison, Fi goes to Ayn and tells her she needs to disappear. She wants it to look like she broke out without actually leaving. Ayn says she might be able to arrange it, if Fi can make it worth her while. Fi asks Ayn if she's interested in an early release. Fi says that if Ayn hides Fi, it would only be fair that Ayn be the one who finds her. It has to happen the next morning. All the pieces are in place in Atlantic City for the capture of Anson at a motel. But Michael is worried about a party at the motel possibly attracting police. Before Michael can do anything, Nate goes up to the partiers and pretends to be the motel manager. He says there are bedbugs and everyone clears out. Michael isn't pleased. Nate was supposed to be purely a driver, and if everyone deserted the motel Anson would know from a mile away that something wasn't right. Nate apologizes. Barry shows up at Maddy's place with a gunshot wound to his arm. Maddy treats him and then Barry says some of Fi's old gun friends saw him at breakfast and they're none too pleased with Fi. Barry also says the FBI offered him immunity if he cooperates, but he has to clear his books to avoid all of his clients being arrested. Barry needs a ride to his client's lake house, and needs backup. Sam agrees to go with him and Maddy says she'll be OK alone. Sam and Barry pull up to a massive lake house and Sam's impressed. They pack up a bunch of Barry's files, which he pulled from a safe. As they're leaving, a guy in an SUV outside starts shooting at them and they duck back into the house. More guys then emerge from the vehicle. Sam and Barry prepare for what to do next. Neither of them has cell phone reception and the phone lines have been cut. One of the guys outside is Garrett Hartley, a cold-hearted S.O.B. Sam talks to Hartley, who's at the end of the driveway, through the intercom and claims he's a Federal agent and has backup on the way. Hartley doesn't buy it and says he's there to kill Barry. Sam wires up a motion-detecting light to shoot at anyone who comes toward the back door. He's also prepared to face them when they return. In Atlantic City, Nate angers Michael again when he orders four pizzas and a delivery guy comes to drop them off. Michael tells Nate he has to leave. Nate leaves and Jesse tells him that was kind of harsh. Michael says there's no room for error. In prison, Ayn shows Fi a hole in the wall in the library where she stashes her cigarettes and other goodies. Fi can hide there to stage her fake escape. Roll call before lunch comes and Fi is hiding in the wall when she hears the alarms begin to ring. Barry is worried about dying before having climbed Kilimanjaro, watched The Wire or had a four-way. Sam doesn't want to hear it. He's setting up an explosive. Sam calls out to Hartley to "talk terms" over the intercom. Hartley blows Sam off, and Sam responds in kind by launching a flaming beer can into the SUV, which sets off all the ammo that was stored inside the vehicle. Once all the ammo is set off, Sam realizes he sees only three guys. He asks where the fourth is and that's when we hear the shots from Sam's wired-up motion-detector device. A guy sneaking around the back is hot. Hartley tells Sam over the intercom that his move was brave but dumb and now Hartley wants to kill Sam, who he's calling "Chuck" (Finley). Sam warns that they're well armed and will fire back, but Hartley doesn't care. Sam then admits to Barry that he was lying. He has two rounds left in his shotgun. Sam has an idea and looks for bacon in the fridge. Sam starts to explain, but stops and just says, "Breakfast meat is magic." There's an element in pork grease that will help. In prison, Fi has a close call when a K-9 picks up her scent inside the library wall. She thinks quickly and drops a pack of cigarettes out of a vent. The dog hits on the cigarettes and the search ends. Arthur, the MI6 agent, is annoyed with the warden about Fi's disappearance and says his trip has been a waste. He says the warden will be hearing from his embassy. All the eyes on the ground at the motel pay off when a blonde prostitute asks the front desk for Anson's room and Jesse is able to get a microphone going to hear her phone call with Anson. He also gets her call signal to get the location of Anson on the other line. Anson tells the hooker to get a package for him and nervously says he needs to get out of town. They figure out that Anson is at the Drexel Hotel on the other side of town. Sam's bacon experiment is coming together as he prepares a bunch of makeshift smoke bombs with the grease in beer cans. The smoke bombs doesn't create enough of a distraction to cover for Sam and Barry and they have to duck back into the house. Worse news: Hartley's backup has arrived. As a last resort, Sam turns the gas on in the house and he and Barry lay down together and pull a porcelain tub over themselves for protection. Sam and Barry agree that if they survive this, no one will ever know of their close quarters. Sure enough, Hartley and his men wire up a wall with C4, but instead of just blowing a hole in the wall, the gas sets off a massive explosion that takes all of them out. Sam and Barry emerge from the tub and walk away from from the ruined house. In prison, Fi is still hiding and Ayn goes to the warden to have a private conversation. She asks for a letter of support from the warden for her next parole hearing in three months in exchange for information on where Fiona is hiding. When Fiona is pulled out of the wall, the warden tells her that her "British friend" will only come back. Fi says he'd better hurry, because Ayn isn't the only one expecting an early release. The warden realizes they were in on it together and tells a guard to put them both in solitary. Michael and crew arrive at Anson's hotel and break into his room. They find nothing but two cell phones and realize Anson was forwarding his calls in case his phone was being traced. Michael uses the phones to quickly dial Anson to get a new location and they see that he's near the airport, which is 20 minutes away. When Pearce fears Anson will flee again, Michael calls Nate and tells him that Anson is near the airport and asks for his help. He asks Nate to get eyes on Anson but emphasizes, "Do not approach him." We next see Anson on his phone telling someone that something "doesn't smell right," and, out of nowhere, he's decked with a fist. It's Nate. After Anson falls to the ground, Nate pulls Anson's gun out of the back of his waistband and tells him, "Michael Westen says hello." Nate is holding Anson at gunpoint in front of a hotel and Anson says he'll be out in a week because he knows where too many bodies are buried. Jesse, Michael and Pearce gleefully approach, but a loud explosive sound out of nowhere surprise everyone. Nate and Anson are both hit, each spattered with the other's blood while laying in pools of their own blood. Michael runs to Nate and tells him he's going to be alright. Nate tells Michael he's scared, and that's the last thing he says. Voiceover Michael says that a spy's life is all about training so you're prepared when the big moments come, but there are certain moments nothing can prepare you for. And we see Michael step into Maddy's house and tell her that youngest son is dead. Michael, Sam and Jesse stand outside the prison as the door opens and Fi walks out looking none the worse for her jolt inside. Fi tells Michael, "It took you long enough. I was beginning to think you didn't need me." "Fi," Michael says, "I need you more than ever." She asks him what's wrong and he says nothing, embracing her tightly. Cast Main *Jeffrey Donovan as Michael Westen *Gabrielle Anwar as Fiona Glenanne *Bruce Campbell as Sam Axe *Coby Bell as Jesse Porter *Sharon Gless as Madeline Westen Recurring *Jere Burns as Anson Fullerton *Lauren Stamile as Agent Pearce *Seth Peterson as Nate Westen *Paul Tei as Barry Burkowski Guest *William Mapother as Garret Hartley *Zabryna Guevara as Ayn *Ward G. Smith as Arthur Meyers *Peggy Sheffield as Warden Mills *Vincent Flood as Anthony Trivia *Barry refers to a homemade grenade launcher that Sam makes as a "Boomstick." This is the same term that Ash uses to refer to his shotgun in Army of Darkness. Ash and Sam are both played by Bruce Campbell. *Anson calls Nate "Fredo". Likely a reference to The Godfather, where Fredo Corleone is seen as less competent than his brother Michael Corleone, who Michael Westen shares a name with. Major Events *Death of Nate Westen *Death of Anson Fullerton Category:Burn Notice episodes Category:Season 6